This website aims to provide local governments with the information, tools and support to consult effectively. Effective consultation is a fundamental component of a new drive in Victoria to further engage communities in local decision-making processes.

Local governments can strengthen their confidence, capacities and connections through engaging their communities. A key tool to achieve this is effective community consultation and, through this, genuine engagement.

The Victorian Local Governance Association and the State Government believe that effective consultation in local decision-making leads to genuine community engagement and improves the quality of local governance in Victoria. With the introduction of Best Value Victoria local governments are now required to develop a program of regular consultation with their community in relation to the services they provide.

This site is designed to be interactive and will be updated regularly. Please contact us with feedback or comments.

The design of this website has been based on the needs of the sector and it builds on previous work undertaken by the VLGA and LGD in 2001. This work included the development of the Community Consultation Resource Guide - the 'red book'. It seeks to address the key question of how do local governments increase the level of participation and representation in their consultations?

This website contains information on:

• The basics: Consultation and engagement terms are defined and key principles identified with accompanying checklists.
• Consultation methods - How to?: Contains information on traditional and innovative methods of consultation including brief descriptions, notes on applicability, skills required, outline of how the process usually works, strengths and weaknesses and links to relevant information.
• Choosing a method: Provides guidance in finding the most appropriate consultation method or methods according to the type of issue or project which requires input.
• Engaging the hard-to-reach groups: Some tips about engaging individuals and groups who are often isolated, not connected to traditional local government communication networks or hard to reach for a variety of reasons.
• Case studies: These can be found throughout the site or perused individually and have been put together by the practitioners themselves (including contact details for further information), including the opportunity to upload your own experiences.
• Consultation planning and process design: Lists a range of issues to consider and steps taken when designing and carrying out consultation activities.
• Consultation strategy development: Provides some tips on preparing a whole of local government consultation strategy and links to examples from across the state.

The site creates a space for ongoing debate, discussion and support around consultation issues and direct links to relevant national and international websites.